Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Would you forgive American Airlines?

So last night at 10:05 I get this call from American airlines. I had just booked myself on the 5:00 a.m. shuttle to arrive here for an 8:40 flight. But no.... they called at 10 to tell me that the 8:40 was cancelled and I was booked on the 5:50 a.m. flight. Then they asked if I would accept this change... say yes, if not say no. I started to say no and then said, "Thank you -- you are now confirmed on this flight." It was automated and there was nothign I could do. When I tried to call the airline they said the wait time to talk to someone was 62 minutes.

of course, there is no shuttle at that time so... poor Bart had to get up with me at 3:10 and drive me to the airport. When I checked in it turned out they had me booked for tomorrow not today. So the helper guy wisked me up to the front of the line. I told the lady my sob story and she felt bad enough for me that she didn't charge me to check my baggage and booked me in first class for the 2nd flight.

i was thinking about that... I'm 47 years old and have flown at least that many times and I have NEVER sat in a first class seat....

So should I forgive American for making me get up an hour earlier? Maybe I should. I enjoyed my husbands company on the fastest ride ever from our house to the airport (not much traffic at 3:30 and we didn't have a single red light). I am in Chicago having breakfast -- a couple of the items are quite tasty -- and I will get in earleir to the hotel. Now if I can just get a shuttle ride at the right time and they will let me check into the airport early -- I'll be doing well.

Hope your day started later than mine!

It's only 7:30 and I'm already in Chicago and will be on a 9:00 flight.

I think you should considering what they did to compensate you for the inconvenience. In this day and age it would be difficult to abstain from using one particular airline; especially when planes are so frequently switched around at the last minute.

Our daughter and son-in-law got bumped up to first class on a flight once. They tried to pretend they knew what the tiny, hot towels and tongs were for, and like they always had reclining seats. But something tells me they rather stood out like sore thumbs, from their funny description of the situation.

Aside from the earlier hour, I hope you enjoyed the "pampering". You probably received more than the complimentary package of tiny, tiny pretzels like we common schmucks get in the back!

Although, we were privy to the "Reba McIntyre Show" in 2nd class on one flight home from Guatemala. Flight attendant looked like Reba, but behave in a less Reba-like fashion, as she sat on an armrest and flirted with a passenger for most of the flight. She, at least, seemed very impressed with herself.